B-24 Liberator part 1

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B-24 Liberator part 1 photo gallery

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Consolidated B-24 Liberator
The design, produced to a USAAC ( United States Army Air Corps) requirement in January 1939, was particularly noteworthy for the very high aspect ratio Davis wing and capacious fuselage. By the time the XB-24 flew on 29th December, 1939, orders had been placed by the USAAC (for seven YB-24 and 36 B-24A for evaluation), France (120) and Great Britain (164). After France fell, the French orders were diverted to Britain, and the first half dozen Liberators (designated LB-30A) were handed over to B.O.A.C. for trans-atlantic ferry flights. Twenty more found their way to RAF Coastal Command as the Liberator Mk I, modified for patrol duties. The first American deliveries were nine B-24As in June 1941, and these too were put into use as transport aircraft. Coastal Command’s Liberator Mk II (which had no US counterpart) incorporated a lengthened nose, additional armament and a crew of ten; a few of the 139 delivered were employed as LB-30 transports, one of them becoming Winston Churchill’s personal transport “Commando “. The majority, however, went into action in the bombing role, the first Liberators to do so. Following the flight in America of the XB-24B, an improved model with self-sealing fuel tanks and turbo-supercharged engines, came a batch of nine B-24C and the first major production version (and first US bomber version), the B-24D. Among the 2738 examples of this model were to be found various permutations of gunnery and bomb load, and some of the later series also underwent a change of powerplant.

To the RAF went 260 B-24Ds (with minor modifications) as the Liberator Mk III and Mk 111A, and a further 122 later fitted with ventral and chin radar housings and a Leigh light as Coastal Command’s Mk V. In the summer of 1943 the US Navy took over those USAAF B-24Ds already used for anti-submarine duties, plus a further quantity of the same version, as the PB4Y-1. Several B-24Ds joined with the Fortresses over Europe at this time, and others served in the Mediterranean and Middle East, but it was in the Pacific that the Liberator’s unrivalled range made it particularly useful, and this undoubtedly accounts for its success as a transport as well as a bomber. The Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express transport appeared in the middle war years, 276 being built for the USAAF (United States Army Air Forces), 24 for the RAF and a number as RY-2s for the US Navy. The C-87A and the Navy’s RY-1 were specially fitted for VIP use. Other factories now joined the production team, and the combined efforts of Consolidated, Douglas and Ford produced 791 B-24E, generally similar to the B-24D. North American contributed 430 of the longer, turret-nosed B-24G, and the 3100 B-24Hs also featured a power turret in this position. A substantial number of B-24H were distributed among Bomber and Coastal Commands and FEAF as the Liberator Mk IV. Again very similar to the G model was the B-24J, 6678 of which were built; some 1200 of this model were supplied to the RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) and further quantities to other Commonwealth air forces. Over 90 B-24H and J Liberators were converted as photo-reconnaissance aircraft with F-7 series designations. The B-24L and M were generally similar to earlier variants apart from tail gunnery changes, 1667 and 2583 respectively being completed. The XB-24K, modified from a D in 1943, led to the single-finned B-24N, but only eight of these were completed before B-24 production ceased in May 1945.
Total production: 18482 bombers.

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